Sure enough, the Droid DNA shares the same spec as the Butterfly, which is very exciting indeed, as its headline feature is a 5-inch, Super-LCD 3 touchscreen with a 1080p resolution and an amazing 440ppi. This makes it the first smartphone announced in the U.S. with such a high pixel count, and is currently unique in the market.

The screen is covered in Gorilla Glass 2 for protection, and it has a slight curve to it too, plus HTC say it’s 50-percent brighter than the Samsung Galaxy S3’s screen and has a vastly superior 80-degree viewing angle too.

HTC’s President, Jason Mackenzie, said both he and all the teams involved were “super excited” about the new phone, adding that “this is Droid as only HTC can do: Ultimate power.” It’s hard to disagree too, as the rest of the specification is equally tantalizing.

The processor is a 1.5GHz, quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro and is ably assisted by 2GB of RAM. It’s Qualcomm’s integrated LTE chip, so it should offer improved battery life too. The operating system is Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, with the HTC Sense 4+ user interface, and the device has an 8-megapixel camera with an f2.0 stop aperture, 1080p video recording and an HDR feature.

There’s also a 2.1-megapixel forward facing camera lens with an 88-degree viewing angle, two amplifiers — one for the speaker and one for the headphones — plus NFC, dual-microphones, 16GB of internal memory, Bluetooth 4.0 and Beats Audio too. The battery is rated at 2,020mAh, and the Droid DNA supports wireless charging.

Verizon will put the Droid DNA up for pre-order today, and it has been priced at $199 with a two-year contract. It’ll be released on November 21 and will, of course, connect to its 4G LTE network.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note and Note 2 are the kings of the tablet/smartphone hybrid sector, with only a half-hearted attempt from LG with its Vu/Intuition for competition. Now the Droid DNA is on the scene, that could all change.